BHCC Library
& Learning Commons  

Reference area silent study area Reference area

DRAFT BHCC ARCHIVE
POLICY STATEMENT

(Under development and assumes Charlestown
and current as well as future satellite campuses)


Scope:
The scope of the BHCC Archives includes selected College publications, faculty & student publications, institutional and academic documents, College Committees' records, Board of Trustees records, administrative records, photographs, publicity, and student life records. See the PUBLICATIONS section for details & specifics.

Storage:
The Archives materials will be stored and made available for access in accordance with the access parameters stated in the access section of this document. (see attached recommendations of the Preservation Survey)

Access:
The Archives materials may be used by appointment in the designated area in the library during the regular library hours under supervision of a librarian. The signed permission of the Library Director is required for visitors not currently employed or otherwise affiliated with BHCC. They may be required to submit a request letter before visiting and produce an affirmative response from the Library Director as a means of access to the BHCC Archives materials. All visitors will be required to sign the BHCC Archives Visitor register and be prepared to produce valid identification if it is requested by the attending librarian. The visitor's register is kept for use and other statistical purposes and is protected under the rules of confidentiality of library users. Trained library staff will be available to assist visitors in using finding aids ( i.e. databases and indexes) to identify and locate archival materials. Visitors must follow the preservation guidelines for using materials in Archives. There will be presented in a handout provided by the librarian at the time of the visit.

Ownership:
Records produced for and by BHCC are considered by law to be public records (see attached.) The Massachusetts Public Record Law provides that any person has a right to access public information. (Exemptions apply. See Massachusetts General Law statutes 27, 36.)

Collection Development:
The Archives Collection Development guidelines apply across the college departments, as criteria for determining the appropriateness of materials for inclusion in the BHCC archives. The BHCC Communications Department and its Office of Institutional Effectiveness agree to work in collaboration with the library to review and encourage Archives submissions and to ensure that all eligible College publications are routinely included in the BHCC Archives collection.

Publications produced with BHCC logo are a mandatory part of the Archives collection. The officer in charge of each administrative and/or academic office is required to send two copies of each publication created by the office to the College Archives.
The following publications are part of the Archives collection and should be retained permanently:

Admissions Department, Counseling Center, Continuing Education, Community Services, BHCC Foundation, Human Resources, Student Affairs, Division of Planning & Development, Teaching & Learning Center, Public Safety, Center for Self-Directed Learning, E-College, Library, etc.

BHCC Record Groups: The BHCC Archives collection includes various documents produced by and for the college. Most of the documents represent agenda & minutes of meetings, reports, programs of events.


The following record groups are part of the Archives collection and the list continues to be expanded.

The officer in charge of a college administrative and/or academic office of selects and confirms with the archivist the value of documents for permanent and/or temporary storage in Archives. The schedule for contributing the records to the Archives may be vary from a monthly to an annual schedule on a per department basis and should be confirmed with the archivist.

BHCC photograph collection:
The current photograph collection represents the college and student life in fragments and is due for active development. BHCC Communications Department when possible will provide photographs of College events with annotations, which should include dates, names and locations. Routine calls will be put out to encourage contributions to the retrospective as well as current college photograph collection.

Copyright:
General copyright laws are applied for individually owned publications and public record items might be copied upon the payment of a reasonable fee. Guided by established copyright regulations, trained librarians will assist visitors with photocopying and/or scanning of archival materials.

Special Collection: In conjunction with the Archives the BHCC library is developing a Special Collection, which will be associated with the Archives. The Special Collection includes rare publications, some prior to 1930. Special Collection will have a distinctive location near but separate from the Archives location and materials will be designated for in library use only.